Marking the first time the championship competitors have experienced the
Northamptonshire venue's new 3.6-mile layout, the official test
comprised four sessions with Thomas lapping in the top six during the
opening outing and then rounding-off the day eighth fastest overall with
his final run.

Producing a best time of 2m00.972 seconds (108.93mph) on new tyres during
the fourth and final session, the 21-year-old Dutchman was the second
highest placed of the Manor Competition team drivers, just six 10ths of a
second shy of team-mate Lewis Williamson's top four best.

Beginning the day strongly with the sixth quickest time of 2m03.583
seconds (106.63mph), in session two Thomas wasn't able to get a clear
run due to several red flag stoppages. He then improved his time in
session three though by eight 10ths of a second -- 2m02.786 seconds
(107.32mph).

Taking new tyres for the last run, the TORO and Club Car-sponsored racer
found an additional 0.8 seconds to push back into the top eight with his
quickest lap of the day. Happy to have ended the test just a second shy
of the outright pace, Thomas feels rightly confident heading towards the
fourth race meeting of the 2010 season next month at Oulton Park in
Cheshire.

"I'm happy with the Silverstone performance overall, it was a
good test and I really enjoyed driving the new Grand Prix Circuit",
said the Delft-based driver, "I've always liked driving at
Silverstone but I think the new part of the track has really given it
something extra. We started the test well, sixth in the first session was
good but we weren't able to get a clear run in session two due to red
flags.

"I improved in session three and then looked at the data to see where
we could find more time in the last run. There were more red flags which
meant we didn't have chance to do everything we wanted, but when we
put some new boots on at the end I was able to do my best time to go
eighth overall. I really wanted to be in the top five but eighth is still
a solid benchmark for me."

More official testing will take place at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk
next Monday, 24th May, with the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2010
Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship then following just under two
weeks later on 5th/6th June at Oulton Park Island Circuit.